Improved regulator for time-keepers



UNTTHD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

R. s. MERSHON AND J. M. HARPER, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

. Ass eNEEs OF RALPH s. MERSHON.

IMPROVED REGULATOR FOR TlME-KEEPERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,810, dated April 26, 1859; Reissue N0. 892, dated February 7, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that RALPH S. MERsHoN, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, did invent certain new and useful Improvements in Regulators for Time- Keepers, (for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted and issued, to RALPH S. MnRsHon and J OHN M. HARPER on the 26th of April, 1859, as the assig'nees of the entire right of said MERSHONQ and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, makin g a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a top plan of a portion of a watch, showing the application of the improvement of the said MERSHON applied to it; and Fig. 2 represents a porion of the regulator detached, and on an enlarged scale.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts of the contrivauce in both of them.

The invention of the said RALPH S. MER- SHON consists in the application to watches,

- or such other timepieces as have their boats or vibrations governed by a balance and hair spring, of a compound regulator composed of two or more movable toothed segments, that may work together or independent of each other, so as to produce a less or greater sensible effect upon the hair-spring, as may be desired.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the invention of the said RALPH S. MERSI-ION, we will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A represents the pillar-plate of awatchmovement. B represents the upper plate, and 0 represents a toothed segment moving around the point a, as a center, which point a may be a shaft, and held or supported by Gr represents a balance, and H a balance or hair spring.

L represents a scale by which the regulator D is adjusted, and over or past which it may move. There may be a scale, m, on the segment G and a stationary indicator, J, on the plate a to govern its movements by but these may be dispensed with, inasmuch as when the segment 0 is moved independently of the regulator, said regulator is stationary, and consequently its tooth or teeth 0 is also stationary, and the tooth can then be a station ary indicator, in the same practical sense that d is, and serving a similar purpose. So, too, may the scale m be dispensed with, and the teethf be used as a scale for defining the extent of movement of the segment G. Eithtr answers the purpose; but as there is no necessity of duplicating parts to accomplish a single purpose, and as the teeth of the two segments can efiect the same objects that the indicator d and scale m do, and in addition to this perform another important feature, I prefer to dispense with the indicator d and scale m and use the teeth of the segment 0 and regulator D instead. Both, however, may be used if so preferred, but there is, as above stated,no necessity of duplicating these indicating-points when they exist in the teeth themselves of the two segments.

we have shown two teeth, 0, on the hub of the indicator D. But one of them is in action at a time, and hence there may be but one, the only difference between having one and two being that, with two the indicatorD would have to be moved farther to throw it out of mesh with the segment 0 than when one is used, or,in other words, two remain longer in mesh than a single one would, and in some watch-movements one may be preferable to two teeth.

The operation of this regulator is as follows: If the regulator D be turned upon its pivot 11 toward F the segment 0 will turn in an op posite direction and the scale L will show the extent of movement of said regulator. Now, if the distance of the acting tooth c and the scale L from the center b, respectively, be as l to 7 then the arcU will have moved one-seventh of the movement of the regulatorD upon the scale L; and as the tension of the balance-spring is adjusted by the action of the ping on said segment 0, and as the pin 9 is secured at a distance from the point a which is equal to one-half of the radius of the segment 0', it follows that the movement of the regulator D upon the scale L only afl'ects the balance springone-fourteenth of its movement, thus affording the means of adjusting the spring to almost any desired accuracy. By turning the regulator D far enough to bring the tooth c that is acting out of mesh with the segment-teeth f, then the segment 0 can be moved independently of the regulator D and act like a simple regulator; and the tooth on the regulator which is thus taken out of mesh with the teeth f may designate the point or extent of itsindependent movement, the teeth f being the movable portion of this indicating device. The object of having the regulator to mesh with the segment 0 is that a much more minute regulation may be made, 'inasmuch as however slight the movement of the indicator D may be, it only communicatesonefourteenth of that movement to the. pin 9 which acts on the balancespring. Of course these proportions of parts are assumed to more clearly describe their action, but other proportions maybe used, the object being to have a perceptible movement of the regulator D communicate an imperceptible (almost) movement of the pin that controls the hair or balance spring. For large adjustments the segments can be moved independently of the regulator, and thus the necessity of shortening. or altering the hair-spring is avoided, which would havetobe done if the compound regulator only could be used.

Having thus fully described thenature and object of this improvement, what is claimed as the invention of RALPH S. MERsHON, and desired to be secured by Letters-Patent, is

The application to watches and such time-pieces as have their vibrations governed by a balance and hair spring of a compound I regulator composed of two or more segments, constructed and operating substantially as described.

2. The combination of said compound regulator with one or more indicating devices, by which the movement of said regulator may be adjusted or defined, substantially asdescribed.

R. S. MElt'SHON. JOHN M. HARPER. Witnesses:

HENRY HARPER, JOHN M ADDER, Jr. 

